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A British powerlifter and fitness influencer has claimed that Gymshark is taking a “tactically aggressive approach” as the sportswear brand attempts to temporarily prevent him from taking on new work.
Gymshark, whose popularity has grown among millennial and Gen Z gym-goers thanks to its online marketing and use of influencers, has applied for a High Court injunction in London against Nathaniel Massiah, 22, to block him in effect from promoting another clothing brand, according to legal documents seen by the Financial Times.
Massiah, who became a brand influencer for Gymshark at 17, promoted it on social media until the end of November last year when his six-month contract expired, having signed “a series of short term contracts” over the years, according to separate legal documents seen by the Financial Times.
Gymshark’s move comes after Massiah started promoting a competitor brand — YoungLA — in December, according to Gymshark’s lawyers.
They argue that this was in breach of several clauses in his contract, including one that prevented him from endorsing “any competing brand without the prior written consent of Gymshark” for three months after his contract ended.
Gymshark wrote to Massiah before it went to court, its lawyers said, requesting he stop promoting YoungLA and take down any related social media posts but he had “not provided any response whatsoever”.
Massiah’s lawyers said he only had three working days to appoint solicitors and prepare for a hearing on December 30, with another scheduled for January 15.
They have argued that Massiah was one of many Gymshark influencers and “each of the short term contracts . . . were not the product of negotiation between parties with equal bargaining power”, referring to Gymshark’s scale and resources.
The British company started life in a garage in 2012, when chief executive and co-founder Ben Francis — 19 at the time — began designing gym clothes to plug a gap in the market. It has grown into a global brand with annual revenue surpassing £500mn, and which counts US private equity firm General Atlantic as an investor.
Massiah’s lawyers added in the documents that other athletes “likely to be young and of modest financial means” could be under similar contractual obligations with Gymshark and if they were themselves restricted could be prevented from earning any money.
They added: “His main earnings came from his contract with Gymshark. When it decided it no longer wanted to use his services, he was required to seek out another business which wanted to use his services or go without his primary source of income.”
Gymshark told the FT: “We saw the outstanding potential [Massiah] had in the early years of his career and supported and championed him to the hilt. At the outset, the contract was clear and the post-termination clause could have been negotiated, but [it] wasn’t. It is regrettable that it has come to this, but the terms of the contract were breached by Mr Massiah, so we were left with no alternative but to enforce them.”
